One of Patti’s favorite “sides” is onion rings. Her family lived in Wilmington, Del., for several years. She and her siblings found a Howard Johnson outside of town that served lightly breaded onion rings made in house.
They patronized that HoJos as often as they could for those onion rings. Everything changed after the restaurant was sold. The new owners no longer made their own onion rings.
I used to buy frozen onion rings occasionally, but they never were very good. Most frozen ones have breading so thick that you can’t taste the onions. It seems all you’re eating is deep fried breading with too much salt and who knows what else.
I don’t deep fry. So, my experimentations with onion rings hadn’t worked out well until a few months ago when I found a note I had made at some point about something I’d read. The note said: “1 large onion, a little flour mixed with water, oil for frying.” From this, I finally have developed a recipe we like.
1 large onion
3 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
Oil for shallow frying
Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add water and blend well. Set aside. Peel onion and cut off stem end to the point where onion diameter is a good size for rings.
Cut onion into ¼-inch slices. Separate rings. Heat oil in skillet until medium hot. Oil should be ¼-inch deep or less. Dip rings, one at a time, into flour mix. Place in skillet. Add as many rings as you can without crowding.
Using tongs, turn each ring as it browns. When both sides are colored, place on paper towels to drain oil. Keep warm.
Save the rest of the onion for other uses.
We like these with hamburgers.
Enjoy and stay safe!
If you have suggestions or questions for this column, contact me either through this newspaper at herald@buckscountyherald.com or directly at guthrielarason@verizon.net.
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